Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- High-purity isopropyl alcohol
- Lint-free cloth or clean coffee filter
- Spreading device
- Silver thermal compound
Step1
Turn off the electricity to your computer. Remove all the cords. Open the case.
Step2
Locate the CPU core. Clean any thermal compound that remains on the CPU core. You can use high-purity isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. Don't touch the CPU core with your fingers.
Step3
Apply a small dab of silver thermal compound to the CPU core. Don't get any of the silver thermal compound on anything else inside the CPU. A small CPU core only needs a spot of silver thermal compound about the size of ½ of a grain of rice.
Step4
Spread the silver thermal compound with a spreading device. Some compounds come with a device, or you can use a razor blade or the clean edge of a credit card. Whatever tool you use must be clean.
Step5
Make sure the layer of silver thermal compound is thin and evenly covers the CPU core. The tiniest gap can spoil the effectiveness of the whole procedure.
Step6
Look for stray hairs or lint in the silver thermal compound. Make sure you get the CPU core and heat sink properly aligned as you close the case. Reassemble the computer.